The applications feature list was considerably more advanced than its main competition wordstar, an established program based on the operating system cpm that failed to transition successfully onto msdos, which replaced cpm. Having used wordperfect since 1986, i found it to be far better than any other word processing program. Wordperfect wp is a word processing application, now owned by corel, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. Addons edit mailmerge was an addon program becoming integrated from wordstar 4 onwards which facilitated the merge printing of bulk mailings, such as business letters to clients. This column has been brought to you by our friends at mycase, webbased practice management software for lawyers.
The dos versions of wordstar i used were just not to my liking, and wordperfect 5. The rageinducing word versus wordperfect debate above. Even today, some authors still use dos word processing software. Early in the ibm pc era, satellite softwares wordperfect 4. Who still uses wordperfect, and why is it still in. Sales and storm sales were flying for wordstar and micropro. Ill happily admit im more of a wordperfect fan than wordstar. Wordstar, originally from micropro, was a popular word processor during the early 80s. Wordperfect is a word processing system that was originally produced by satellite software international inc. When it comes to documentation of events, historical facts, thoughts, and ideas, our world has evolved from an oral documentation society to a written documentation society. Wordstar is available as abandonware, but it is a dos program, not windows compatible. Wordperfect office contains a word processortext editor, an application for sending messages, software for exhibiting presentations, a document management program that also takes care of scans and.
At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the. If you dont need all the power features of ms office, then something like libre office, which is open source and free, will probably meet your needs. Where did old word processing software like wordstar and. The question of which word processing program best serves the legal aid community has been discussed regularly on the list. In microsoft word was in direct competition with wordperfect and wordstar, both of which were introduced for pcs in 1982. Wordperfect for the macintosh a freely downloadable program was written for older version of the macintosh operating system, but it can be run on modern intelbased macs or any mac running os x. Eventually, wordperfect rose to the top, based on its superior support program. Ive used wordstar, wordperfect, word, multimate, sprint, xywrite, and just about every other msdos and windows wordprocessing package, and wordstar is by far my favorite choice for creative. To convert wordstar, wordstar professional and wordstar2000 documents to a modern platform such as microsoft word, wordperfect, html, xml, etc. Dont bother looking for wordstar 7d if you want to run it under windows nt, 2000, or xp, and the main reason is for the windows clipboard feature it doesnt work on these versions of. The extensions that wordperfect associates with are. Its not that i prefer it, its just the current tool in use at work. The one big difference between corel wordperfect and ms word is in the pricing structure.
Before posting on our computer help forum, you must register. It was best known for its availability on a large number of computers. Wordperfect was started in 1984 by satellite software international, a company started in orem, utah by mormons. It was easy to use and the wordperfect support team was wonderful. Yet thats what wordperfect, microsoft word, and others would force you to.
And since its the m section, i might as well push through microsoft word and its contemporary. Microsoft word is used by the majority of computer users, and the words microsoft word are synonymous with word processing. Wordperfects integration of printing functions and spelling checks is more efficient than wordstars approach. Wordperfect issue came up again on the lstech listserv. X series supplanted wordstar as the most popular word processor. Wordperfect office x8s compatibility with microsoft office has been boosted, which means users can work with files created with any microsoft office program. At the time, the champion word processor was wordstar, with countless other smaller. The product of micropro international, it was the first fullfeatured. Ive used wordstar, wordperfect, word, multimate, sprint, xywrite, and. Satellite software international changed its name to the wordperfect corporation in 1985. You have written a document on wordstar and wish to print it. The main reason to make use of word processing software such as microsoft word or corel wordperfect is so that you can effectively share ideas and thoughts. Microsofts word and corels wordperfect have long been the two dominant names in word processing software.
Wordstar is a word processor application that had a dominant market share during the early to. Everyone knows microsoft office, but its not your only choice for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software. It was ported to a number of cpm architectures as well as unix and pcmsdos. A writers word processor even today, some authors still use dos word processing software from the 1990s. I would stay with wordperfect and use word when you have to. Ms word offers a free trial after which you will need to pay to upgrade and then pay renewal. Wordperfect is an application for writing and editing documents. Ill always remember wordperfect as the quintessential white text on blue screen application for a period from about 1985 to 1992, wordperfect was the most popular word. Microsoft word is the most popular word processing software available today. Futz around with styles, learn all the wizarding margins. Machina 12032017 14032017 2 comments on vintage software. Download wordperfect office x5 standard free for windows. Like anything, the trick to using it well is to simply use it often.
X series supplanted wordstar as the most popular word processor, based largely on its macro capabilities, reveal codes feature, and. It became the first program to overtake the original market leader wordstar in a major application category on the dos. Wordperfect was first marketed to dos in 1982, and has since enjoyed immense popularity especially after its feature set was found to be richer and more extensive than the earlier word processor for dos. Wordperfect library, introduced in 1986 and later renamed wordperfect office not to be confused with corels windows office suite of the same name, was a package of dos network and standalone utility. A recurrent topic is how to keep the software working on the latest. I love this program and probably always will but its relevance as a competitive office product seems to diminish with every new version. Lets get the obvious stuff out of the way, shall we.
Wordperfect x9 word processor quattro pro x9 spreadsheet program presentations x9 slideshow creator wordperfect lightning digital notebook wordperfect ebook publisher paradox database management system aftershot 3 standard raw photoediting software corel screencap record directly from your screen. The basic historic facts of the wordperfect saga arent in dispute. Within three years, wordstar was the most popular word processing software in the world. For example, in my version of word i get this stupid sidebar that i dont want. Corel wordperfect office sometimes referred to as corel wordperfect, wordperfect office, wordperfect, wpo, corel office was added by vivisuthan in feb 2010 and the latest update was made in nov 2019. This trial version does not include some applications that are available only with the purchase of wordperfect office x9 professional or legal editions. Having myself used wordperfect, wordstar, and xywrite. Corel wordperfect office alternatives and similar software. Which of the following was the first commercial software package to incorporate wysiwyg as a feature. Of all the dos era word processor programs i used in those days, xywrite was the. The christian science monitor is an international news organization that delivers thoughtful, global coverage via its website, weekly magazine, online daily edition, and email newsletters. Which of the following was the first commercial software.